The Real Problem With Mac Keyboards

Mac keyboards suck. Yes, all of them. All of them forever. No flames, please. Hear me out. How do I know they suck? I’ve used them all going back about 20 years and have yet to find one I truly like* and want to use to replace the pretty but seemingly less functional Mac keyboards from Apple.

*Caveat? Keyboards are like clothing, or like word processors, or like many DLSR camera and lens combos. They’re unique to our tastes and usage. I’ve used many dozens of keyboards through they years and really have and had a problem with each one, so I’m something of an expert on my keyboard usage (as you’re an expert on your keyboard usage).

I Love Clatter

The reason I’ve gained experience using keyboards on Macs, Windows PCs, Chromebooks, and anything that a keyboard can attach to is thanks to a couple of decades working in a private school that has many hundreds of Macs, PCs, iPads with bluetooth keyboards, and a dozens of cheap-assed Chromebooks of varying brands and ages. I’ve used keyboards that clatter, some that make no noise whatsoever, and everything in between.

The best keyboard I’ve ever used likely would result in a divorce if you use it at home, or, at least have you banned to the basement at work after your cubicle farm mates revolt. It’s the Das Keyboard Model S for Mac. The Clicky version. That’s Clicky as in clatter. It’s noisy.

Compare the clickety-clack of keyboards from the last century to the ultra quiet keyboards for iPad Pro models. Even the new an ultra slim MacBook has a quiet keyboard. The Das Keyboards are so expensive you’d think Apple made them. It’s German engineered. You know, like Claudia Schiffer. But without the beauty. Das Keyboards are decidedly thick and heavy and durable, built with mechanical key switches and plenty of keys.

Second on my list of favorite keyboards are a couple that come from Matias, especially the Ergo Pro which is mechanical but somewhat quiet. I use this one often as I travel about the school working on various Macs and PCs. Matias also makes the best keyboard that Apple ever made– Tactile Pro– which comes with the clickety-clacky sound of old Apple and IBM keyboards; all mechanical, all tactile, engineered to improve your arthritis (I made that up; but if exercise improves arthritis, this keyboard gives your fingers and hands a workout).

I just can’t compare keyboards from the last century to modern keyboards because there is no real comparison. Modern Mac keyboards are spongy, weak-spined, soft in that love handle sort of way. They’re pretty, they work, and you can beat on them for awhile (they break and are not easily repaired), but they just don’t have that clickety-clackety feel that makes you know you’re getting something done.

Keyboards might be somewhat like religion or politics. We all have our preferences. Mine goes clicky clack and clatters and that works best for me.

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About Natalia Nowak

My husband, Nathan, and I have used Macs for nearly 25 years. We're teachers at a private school in Chicago, IL. I'm also the school's resident Mac system administrator, PC troubleshooter, and a diehard Mac diva and iPhone hacker. Read more of my articles here.

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I used the Matias Tactile Pro until my eyesight began to get worse. I asked Matias, several times, when they were going to put out a Tactile Pro with Large Letters on the keys. No response, so I’ve switched to the “logickeyboard” models built on the Apple wired keyboard. I now have a Largeprint White on Black ASTRA Mac Backlit. Nice, but no clickety-clacky.